While many of us experience food and family traditions at Sunday dinner or while revamping Grandma's recipes, for some, it’s all about the family business. As the granddaughter of a hog farmer, this intersection of food, family and entrepreneurship holds a special place in my heart, and it’s also the story of so many Black families in the South. And today, my parents help watch my children while I run my business. Though I am not running a hog farm, I often find those memories and lessons of hog farming inspire me both personally and professionally. Family memories are intertwined with a legacy of entrepreneurship and generational wealth and a drive to preserve heritage.

I wanted to explore the stories of some of the family businesses I’ve always admired. So I connected with three Black entrepreneurs carrying on their family businesses. There are many ways to pass on family traditions. These generational family-owned businesses are doing just that. These torchbearers are maintaining traditions and finding ways to apply them to the present and the future. Here’s how they are bringing their flavors from their family table to yours.

Argia B's Mumbo Sauce, Chicago

Allison Collins, CEO of Select Brands, the manufacturer of Argia B's Mumbo Sauce, carries on the legacy of her father's business. Argia B. Collins was a beloved Chicago-area BBQ restaurateur and pitmaster from Mississippi who bootstrapped his first business to ultimately becoming a serial entrepreneur with many enterprises; the most lucrative is his Mumbo Sauce, of which Allison is now the steward. She answered a few questions about growing up in a food business and how it has impacted her life and work.

What memories do you have of your family’s business while growing up?

Business at our home was a family affair. At an early age, my siblings and I worked in our restaurants, learned the ropes by "cupping" coleslaw, worked as the fry cook or cashier, and eventually honed our skills in the barbecue pit. During the summers, my father would often hire neighborhood teens looking to make a little "dough," as he called it, to help in the manufacturing plant he opened to produce his in-demand Mumbo Sauce. We'd each be stationed along the assembly line grabbing warm bottles of sauce from the conveyor and packing them into boxes. One of my fondest memories was riding in the cab of our delivery truck with my dad and delivering a product to the local grocery stores. When we were done, he'd pull into one of our favorite snack shops to grab a bite to eat — my favorite part on the delivery route.

How are you planning to grow your business with your own family?

My father always emphasized the importance of getting a great education. He encouraged all of us to study business but supported our choices to pursue other interests. In a very organic way, this inspired my interest in joining the family business after a corporate career and continuing what I consider an important legacy. I have taken the same approach as my family. I have encouraged them to pursue education and develop marketable skills, and when the time is right, they may decide to take hold of the mantle.

What is your favorite family food memory?

I love celebrating birthdays. At our house, even now, we pull out all the stops. We decorate the table, hang the birthday banners, and call folks over to sing the birthday song. It's like a five-year-old's birthday party celebration every year, no matter your age. The birthday boy or girl gets to request their favorite homemade meal and favorite birthday cake or pie. There's always good eating.

Forsyth Seafood, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Virginia Hardesty and her late husband, Charlie Hardesty, began their seafood business in 1984 by peddling shrimp from the back of a truck. They soon turned it into the thriving fresh seafood market and 100-seater restaurant it is today. Since the passing of Charlie Hardesty in 2013, the business has maintained its rich legacy through their daughter Chef Ashley Hardesty Armstrong, who values freshness and quality like her parents. They sell a wide variety of seafood complemented with homemade coleslaw, hush puppies, and other Eastern North Carolina specialties.

What are your memories of the business as you were growing up?

I have "worked" in our family business for as long as I can remember. From establishing myself as the store greeter, creating signage to market a seasonal fish special, rattling off childish ideas at the dinner table (that eventually would be very helpful!), or being the lead cashier at age 9. Looking back at my childhood to my current days in the kitchen, it's safe to say that I've been doing what I was created to do for a long time.

How are you planning to grow your business with your own family?

I believe it was my parent's vision for me to eventually work in the business. I shunned it for several years because I wanted to do my own thing in the fashion textile industry. Eventually, I came to love the artisan craft of butchering fish, frying and experimenting with seafood, and introducing the community to our local foodways. One day I plan for my future children to take our family brand to new heights of franchise ownership, national retail, seafood wholesale, and further expansion. On a smaller scale, we launched a food truck in 2020 that happened to be my brainchild. I plan to produce several franchise trucks for my family to continue the legacy one day.

What’s your favorite family food memory?

I basically grew up at the beach in Beaufort, NC, as I spent every summer there with my cousins who were close in age. The Outer Banks of North Carolina is where my parents are from and the inspiration behind creating the brand. I always loved the culture and practices this small beach town created in our family's social life. Every day in the summer, we would go to the beach with my grandmother's blankets and delicious pimento cheese sandwiches in tow. We would run in and out of the ocean for hours and then enjoy our sandwiches in the sun. It is my absolute favorite memory. What I look forward to most is when my mother retires back to her little beach town, my future children can have those same experiences.

Bowman Vineyards, Round O, South Carolina

Based in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, on one of the rural arteries of the region, Augusta Highway, Bowman Vineyards is a family run, multigenerational business, honoring the traditions of the rich Black culture of the region which is steeped in the Gullah Geechee community. They produce a variety of food products including small batch organic honey, muscadine wines, ciders, butters, preserves and of course, pickled vegetables. This family run business has deep roots in the Lowcountry of South Carolina and continues to pass those traditions to the next generation through new innovative farm-to-table and experiential activities such as wine tastings, tours and much more, with the goal of honoring the local community and its heritage. We spoke to Matthew Bowman, Jr., one of the owners.

What are your long-term plans for Bowman Vineyards?

As part owner of Bowman Vineyards, I have a clear vision for my family. We are currently marketing our fresh fruits and muscadine wines through business seminars, social media wine festivals, and competitor farmer markets. The core value of hard work is being instilled in my children. They come and pick grapes and take them to the farmer's market to sell. That is what I did as a kid, and that is my expectation for each of them.

Can you share any special memories of your grandparents?

In fact, I have fond memories of working with my grandma. She would get me up at 5 am for breakfast. Then we would head out to the field to pick collard greens. She would call her steady clients and head to the Walterboro, South Carolina market to sell her greens. My grandfather would tend to the tobacco barn while my grandmother and I would tend to the greens. But they also grew corn, beans and collards.

Collard greens were one of my favorite foods. I was told that when I was a baby, my grandmother would mix the liquor of the collards with rice and feed it to me. I became a chubby little kid by eating off the fertile, rich land.

How has your upbringing impacted you and the business today?

I will never forget my upbringing as a child because so much was poured into me by my parents and grandparents. Every summer, my parents left me at the farm to help my grandparents but little did I know how much that experience helped me in farming and life.

The fertile, sandy soil and coastal heat of South Carolina allow the family to harvest sweet muscadine grapes. These grapes are transformed into mouthwatering white, red, and blush wines making the perfect pairing for any family meal or night in. Bowman Vineyards cultivates the land to share their family traditions and allow us to make new ones with our own families.

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​​As a mother to two children, this importance of food, family and entrepreneurship rings true. On a weekly basis my parents help watch my children while I run my business that coincidentally centers around food and heritage. And although I am not a hog farmer, I often find those memories and lessons of hog farming inspiring me both personally and professionally.

There are many ways to pass on family traditions. These generational family-owned businesses are doing just that. These torchbearers are maintaining traditions and finding ways to apply them to the present and the future. This melding of family, food and entrepreneurship keeps a solid connection to heritage while exploring new opportunities to connect their love of food to entrepreneurial exploration, paving a legacy for the next generations. We hope these delicious flavors inspire new family traditions and exploration of food and history.

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